As small as it is, the Little Book of Calm became - and was often described as - a cultural reference point for the Nineties. The format - Paul Wilson's style of words, even the illustrative style that appeared as "watermarks" on his pages - spawned thousands of plagiarists and imitators, and subsequently defined a category.

Three years in a row the Little Book of Calm was described as "last year's power trend". It was the subject of an entire episode of the British comedy, Black Books. It featured in pop songs, novels and dozens of cartoons. It was #1 in many countries. A music CD based on its themes was a bestseller in 1999. Dozens of products were based around it.